


Miracles

by palmtreelights



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers S.P.D.
Genre: Cuties, F/F, Flirting, Meeting the Parents, Memories, Pictures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2015-10-04
Packaged: 2018-04-24 16:39:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4927162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/palmtreelights/pseuds/palmtreelights
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's supposed to just be a "meet the family" dinner. It turns into an evening of revelations and bets.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Miracles

**Author's Note:**

> To my great surprise, I didn't talk with the usual suspects about this fic, but here's to them anyway.

“Are you nervous?”

Z takes a breath, ready to answer, but Syd cuts her off before she gets the chance to start.

“Because I am, just a bit.” Syd glances at her, her confident little smile softening around the edges. “I’ve dated girls before, but you’re the first one I’ve ever brought to meet my parents.”

“Oh. Are they going to be okay with this?” she asks, gesturing at the two of them. “Because if not, I can go back—”

“No, no, of course they will be,” Syd assures her, taking her hand. “It’s just special, that’s all.”

“Okay.” Z squeezes Syd’s hand and gives her a smile. “By the way, yeah, I’m nervous. This is a first for me.”

All at once, Syd’s frown disappears, and she gives Z a small, warm smile—the kind she saves for when it’s just the two of them. “You’ll do great, I know it. They’ll love you. Now, come on, can’t keep them waiting any longer.”

They head up the front steps of the biggest house Z has ever seen, let alone been inside of. Once they’re through the doors, they’re greeted by a living room straight out of a fancy magazine, and a staircase with a gilded railing.

Z takes it all in, her hold on Syd’s hand loosening as she devises an exit strategy. Syd’s parents don’t know they’re here yet. She can leave before they see her, and no one will be the wiser. Well, except Syd, but she’ll forgive Z for being intimidated by such an unrepentant display of wealth. Never mind they’ve fought monsters twice their size, never mind they almost died saving the world—

“Sydney?” calls a voice from the second floor of the house.

“Hi, Mom!” Syd replies. She shoots Z a grin, and adds, “We’re downstairs.”

“I’ll be right there. Just a minute!”

Z’s smile falters a little, but she manages to hold onto it. Gripping Syd’s hand harder helps. Syd slipping her fingers between Z’s and giving them a squeeze helps even more.

“Come on,” Syd says, tugging Z towards the living room. “We can wait in here. She might take a while.”

Z lets Syd guide her to the most comfortable couch she has ever sat in. When she’d joined SPD, she’d just been grateful to have furniture at her disposal. This is in a class all its own. It’s enough to make her guess at how long it would take her to run out the door if need be, and if there are any people on staff who’d try to stop her.

But instead of doing any of that, she looks at Syd, who is, as always, perfectly put together, but whose touch of wealth never puts Z off, and never makes anyone feel like less than.

“Your house is really nice,” Z tells her.

Syd beams, shrugging. “My parents take care of it. My old room is the only place where you’ll see what I like in home décor.”

“Show me sometime?” Z asks, only half flirting.

Syd’s smile turns saucy. “Of course. I’m _sure_ you’ll love it.”

Despite herself, Z forgets where they are and starts to lean towards Syd, glancing at her lips before she meets her gaze. “If it’s anything like at SPD, then I—”

“I’m _so_ sorry I took so long,” chirps Mrs. Drew, her heels clicking on the house’s polished wood floors.

A fresh wave of nerves washes over Z, but she finds strength in Syd, who gives her hand another squeeze and stands, turning to face the staircase as her mother goes on, seemingly oblivious.

“I was on the phone with your father, Syd. He’s been held up at the office, even after he promised he’d be here! I told him it was all right, but I’m so _terribly_ sorry. We’ll make it up to you girls. Oh, I’m so happy to finally meet y— _Milagros_.”

Mrs. Drew stares at Z, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open, and Z starts to word an apology for whatever it is that she’s already done wrong. Then, Z recalls what Mrs. Drew has just said, and she frowns. “Miracles?”

As if coming out of a daze, Mrs. Drew blinks and shakes her head. “I’m sorry. It’s just that—” She pauses, staring a moment longer, and gives a smile that softens her gaze and voice. “You look so much like your mother.”

If not for Syd holding her hand, Z might have fainted, too weak to stand against the nostalgia that slams into her. As it stands, her chest grows tight, and she has to remind herself to breathe.

That’s right. B-squad’s parents knew one another, worked for SPD in the past on a project that exposed them to radiation or some other unknown, which led to all their children having abilities that made them something a little beyond human.

“Are you okay?” Syd whispers to her, leaning forward to peer at her face.

Z nods absently at Syd, then looks up at her mother. “Thank you. I don’t—really remember her much.”

Mrs. Drew comes down the last two steps and walks over to them. She gives Syd a kiss on the cheek, then turns to Z, hovering awkwardly for a moment before settling on touching her shoulder and smiling.

“This is Z, Mom,” Syd says, her voice steady even though her eyes betray her uncertainty.

“Yes,” Mrs. Drew says, nodding. “Little Elizabeth.”

“How do you know—” Z clamps her mouth shut and shakes her head. “Sorry. Of course you know my name.” Everyone knows who the members of B-squad are, former Power Rangers and defenders of planet Earth.

“Well,” Mrs. Drew begins, “I also remember Milagros telling me she loved the name Elizabeth, and if she had a daughter, that’s what she’d name her. ‘Little Elizabeth,’ I said to her. ‘That’s very pretty!’”

Z smiles, the tightness in her chest loosening a little. “I never knew that.” She glances at Syd, who is still holding onto her hand. This visit was supposed to be about her, not about Z’s past, but now that they’ve started down this path, Z isn’t sure the evening will be as cheerful as she’d hoped for. At least it’s clear that Mrs. Drew doesn’t hate her, or hate Syd for bringing her over.

“Dinner still needs to simmer for a few minutes,” Mrs. Drew says, sniffling, smiling at each of them in turn. “I hope you like lamb, Z, but if you don’t, it’ll be no trouble preparing you something else.”

“I’ll eat just about anything,” Z says, waving away the concern with her free hand.

“Lamb is a special treat,” Syd remarks, winking at Z.

Mrs. Drew nods. “A special guest deserves a special meal. In the meantime, shall we give you the grand tour?”

The grand tour takes a lot less time than Z would have guessed, for a house this big, but it’s enough to clear away the last of the tension in Z’s chest. There are no comments about her gender and no attempts to make a joke out of SPD bringing people together across generations, or something equally ridiculous.

Dinner is delicious, and Z easily helps herself to seconds. Before SPD, she and Jack would watch cooking shows sometimes at appliance stores, and they’d put on snooty voices and talk about the foods they would never get to try as if they were the blandest in the world. The next time she sees him, she’ll bring that up, and marvel at how times have changed and they’re dining like royalty.

After dinner, they move to the living room with a light, clear tea and a few delicate-looking pastries that are subtly sweet. Mrs. Drew excuses herself for a moment, and while she’s gone, Syd feeds Z bites of dessert, and Z steals kisses from her between tiny mouthfuls.

Syd is pulling the fork from Z’s mouth when her mother comes back, and while Z blushes, Mrs. Drew seems to not even notice, enthralled with the tablet in her hand.

“Look, Z,” she says, coming over to sit in the empty space next to Z on the couch. “These are pictures from my SPD days.”

“You never showed me these,” Syd remarks as Mrs. Drew passes Z the tablet.

“I was under orders not to,” Mrs. Drew says, pursing her lips. “But the secret is out now, so I don’t see why I should hide them any longer.”

“Whose orders?” asks Z. The first picture is of a younger Mrs. Drew standing next to a man who must be Bridge’s father, same eyes, same gentle, easy grin as her teammate.

“Commander Cruger’s, though I suspect the directive came from above him.”

“How rude of him,” says Syd, frowning down at the picture on the screen. “Mom, your hair was _so_ 2000s.”

Z swipes to the next picture. “Jack’s parents?”

“The Landorses were wonderful,” says Mrs. Drew, nodding. “So kind, and so intelligent. I miss them.”

“Did you keep in touch after the project was done?” Z glances up at her before she swipes, and though she’s expecting it, she’s still unprepared for this candid photo of her mother. She’s laughing at something Jack’s parents are saying. Z smiles, too.

Mrs. Drew gives her a few moments to absorb the sight, then says, “No. We were discouraged from that, for security reasons.”

“That’s bogus,” huffs Syd. “As if you weren’t all smart enough to keep secrets. It looks like you all got along really well. You could’ve found so much to talk about besides the project.”

Z barely registers Syd’s words, too caught up in Mrs. Drew’s revelation. If they’d kept in touch, would one of the other families have adopted her and Jack? Could the incidents that took her parents and his have been avoided altogether?

It’s too much, too big a _what-if_ scenario, one no one could possibly hope to answer.

“Are you all right, Z?”

Mrs. Drew places her hand on Z’s shoulder. It’s only then that Z notices she’s shaking.

Syd gets up and crosses to the half bathroom off the living room, returning within a few seconds with tissues in her hand.

“Yeah,” Z answers Mrs. Drew, as Syd dabs her cheeks dry with a tissue. She hadn’t even realized she’d started crying.

Mrs. Drew sighs and slides an arm around Z’s shoulders, giving her a gentle squeeze. “I’m sorry I’ve upset you.” Pulling back, she reaches for the tablet. “Here, I’ll take—”

“Can I have copies of these?” Z looks up at her, holding up the tablet both to show what she means and to hand it back.

Nodding slowly, Mrs. Drew takes it. “Of course.” Setting the tablet on her lap, she puts a hand on Z’s forearm and smiles. “Of course you can.”

Z sniffles. “Thanks.”

“I’ll—you know, I have a spare frame lying around somewhere. I’ll put the pictures there for you.” Mrs. Drew’s smile widens as she nods to herself. Then, with a pat to Z’s arm, she stands and goes to make good on her word.

As her mother’s footsteps fade away, Syd takes Z’s hands. “Are you okay?” she asks once Z has turned to look at her.

Sighing, Z nods. “Yeah. Sorry. I—”

“No, don’t be sorry. You don’t need to explain.” Syd smiles at her. “I would’ve gotten you those pictures a long time ago if I’d known about them.”

“It’s okay, Syd.” Z gives a quiet snicker. “I’m just glad we found out about them at all.”

Nodding, Syd leans in and gives her a quick kiss. “So your mom’s name means ‘miracles’?”

“Yep.”

“That’s really pretty.”

“Thanks.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever said this to you before, since we were so busy fighting Gruumm last year, but—” Pausing, Syd looks right in Z’s eyes. “I’m really sorry about your parents.”

“Thanks,” Z murmurs, looking away. Her gaze falls on the half-eaten pastry she and Syd had been working on just a few minutes ago, before Mrs. Drew brought over the pictures that still make Z dizzy with feelings she can’t even name. “It’s cool that your mom knew them.”

“I bet now she’ll want to tell us stories,” Syd says. “I’d _love_ to hear them, about what she did and how everyone else was.” She pauses, giggling. “I wonder if Dr. Manx used to be a brat back then.”

Just like that, Z’s mind slows back to normal, and she snickers, meeting Syd’s gaze. In the middle of something that might have sent Z spiraling into a place where all she wants to do is run away and disappear, Syd brings her back and holds her steady. How did she get so lucky?

“She would’ve been around a hundred years old back then,” she says to Syd, arching an eyebrow at her. “I doubt if her species has a very long brat phase.”

Putting on her best innocent face, Syd shrugs. “I guess we’ll just have to find out, won’t we? One weekend’s laundry says she was a brat.”

“And one weekend’s says she wasn’t.”

Syd leans forward to kiss her again, this one long enough that Z loses track of the world until the click of Mrs. Drew’s shoes on the floor snaps her out of it.

“Sealed with a kiss,” Syd whispers as she settles into her seat again, winking.

Just then, Mrs. Drew comes around the corner with the frame in her hands.

Z’s smile turns mischievous. “Hey, Mrs. Drew, what was it like working with Dr. Manx?”

Mrs. Drew hands Z the frame and sits next to her, smiling as she thinks back to those days. “You know, she’s part of why I became a science teacher.”

As Mrs. Drew goes into a story, Z glances at Syd, who is listening to her mother as if it were a bedtime fairy tale. Even if she loses the bet, Z won’t be angry. It’ll be worth it, to learn more about her past, and to share these pictures with Jack and these moments with Syd.

Besides, Syd didn’t say Z couldn’t call up a replica or two to help her out.

For now, though, Z puts the bet from her mind and listens to the story, hungry for details about her mother, and happier than ever that Syd had invited her to dinner here tonight.


End file.
